You Give Love A Bandaid
by ms.gyspy
Summary: Set right after the last scene in S04E02. Jess gets more information than she'd expected along with what she really wanted to know.


Pushing herself between Abby and Connor had been a calculated move. It was obvious to everyone in the room that she had done it on purpose. Jess wasn't worried. She calculated all her moves.

Well, most of them.

The way the other two were responding, their discomfort with the questions was obvious. She settled on the one live person she had asked about. "Becker, then. Tell me about Becker. What is he really like?"

Connor looked at the ceiling, then spoke to Abby. "Is this something I should leave the room for? Girl talk sort of thing?"

Jess hurried to beat Abby to the reply. "Oh, no, don't be silly. I want your professional assessment as well as personal insights. He is the only old team member…" She shook her head. "He WAS the only old team member and he keeps himself to himself so it's hard to get to know him."

"I don't feel right violating his privacy," Abby said carefully. "Besides, he always kept himself to himself."

"Well, around us. And around Cutter and Jenny, yeah. And I don't think he ever trusted Danny," Connor said. "But he was sweet on…"

"He wasn't," Abby said quickly. "It was all coincidence. And what do you mean he never trusted Danny? YOU trusted Danny and you met him when he was arresting you!"

"Oi! That was a bogus cop and he knew it!" Connor exploded, then he saw the look on Jess' face and clamped his mouth shut.

Her eyes sparkling merrily, Jess said, "Why isn't this in the files? I know that Danny was a detective but there's nothing about him arresting any member of the team. Before or after he signed up."

"It was a mistake and a little embarrassing," Connor said, staring at the floor.

"It was bloody hilarious," Abby said. "There were times in the last year when I needed something to laugh about and I'd remember the look on Jenny's face when she got the phone call! Bogus, yes, but God, that was funny." She sobered when she saw his face turning stormy. "Well, for anyone who isn't you, that is. I think you probably were pretty unhappy. Come to think of it, I think you probably were pretty vocal."

"So tell me about Jenny, then," Jess interrupted. While this was amusing, it wasn't serving her purpose of gathering all the information she could.

"In the end, Cutter loved her," Connor offered, then gazed helplessly at Abby.

"She was wonderful," Abby picked up the thread. "She started out this snobby, posh marketing type but once she realized what was really going on, she dug in like the rest of us. She left the ARC after we had to kill her for a few moments to destroy a virus that had gotten into her system."

"Cutter sometimes called her Claudia," Connor interjected. "Claudia Brown. He was positive something had changed history. That she'd been Claudia Brown when he went into an anomaly and became Jenny Lewis. He loved Claudia. But in the end, he came to love Jenny."

Jess started to ask for more details about Cutter's apparent delusion, but thought better of it. She would ask someone else. Connor's loyalty to Professor Cutter was something she wanted to keep intact, make use of as needed. She didn't want to question him too closely.

Abby, however, continued. "In the end, she loved him, too. Her posh fiancé didn't like her working the hours we have to work and she threw him over without a backwards glance. And she stuck by Cutter till the end. And then some."

Jess nodded. This was getting much deeper than she had intended, so she decided to wrap it up and stick to lighter topics while eating Chinese takeaway. But she had one question to ask that, no matter how tender a topic, was close to her heart.

"Tell me about Sarah," she asked. She hadn't meant to sound like she was pleading but that was how it came out.

Abby smiled. "She was a late joiner. She had nerve, though. Do the files tell you how she took herself through an anomaly to research a human incursion? A knight came through, chasing what he thought was a dragon, and she went back into his time to find out who he was. She saved the creature, and the knight. She was brilliant."

"She was a lady," Connor added. "Tough lady, but a lady. Quiet voice, polite manner…me, I like the tomboy type, but Sarah, she was the ladylike type." The last part had come out hurriedly and Jess caught Abby's grin.

"And do you think she was sweet on Becker?" Jess asked.

"Don't be ridiculous." Abby may have scoffed but Connor had a different viewpoint.

"I don't know about how she felt but he was sweet on her. I could tell. It's a bloke thing. He spent more time looking at her than he did at anyone else. And by anyone else I mean Jenny and Abby. And whenever she needed an escort, he would just assume it was his job. Becker's not shy, but he's quiet and I think if…if things had gone better he'd have told her soon enough."

That was all Jess needed for one night. "All right, then, no more morbid moaning. There's Chinese and I think you two have a lot of film watching to catch up on."

After a brief squabble, they chose to watch "Sherlock Holmes," because Abby refused to see anything with "Transformers" in the title and when Jess suggested one of the "Twilight" films both Abby and Connor roared their disapproval. Abby wanted to see "The Time Travelers Wife" but a meaningful look from Connor convinced her to drop that idea.

The film was satisfactory, both women admiring the leading men and Connor critiquing the science, or pseudo-science, as he deemed it. By the time the film was over and the kitchen cleared, it was nearly eleven and all three were a little punchy.

Jess knew what she was about to do was silly and bordered on cruel, but she really wanted to see how the two would respond. She picked up Abby's bag and lead her to a room toward the front of the flat. "You can have this one, Abby," she said. "It's got good morning sun and I think that'll make you feel more secure." Both Abby and Connor opened their mouths but said nothing. A quick glance revealed that the room was normally used as a library, and the bed was a narrow futon.

Jess quickly lead Connor to another room, this one in the back. "This one has its own loo," she explained. "And girls and boys don't always like to share. I hope you understand."

He nodded, a little afraid to make a sound. This room had a decent-sized bed, although the pink frilly covers were distracting. Promising, however, was the small netbook computer on the bedside table.

"I don't have the fastest connection, but if you need something to wind you down you can go online and… DO NOT look for any creature sightings but you can go through real estate listings. And, Connor, I SHALL be checking your browsing history." She smiled, softening the stridency of her tone, but he had no doubt she would do exactly that.

She bade them both good night and went into her own bedroom, closing the door with a firm sound. She waited two or three minutes, then turned out her light and sat by the door to listen.

Abby was good, she had to admit. If Jess hadn't already cataloged every single sound her floorboards made she wouldn't have been able to detect the other woman's movement. But, she had, and she could. It was ten minutes after she turned off her light that she heard that quiet sound, then she heard the back guest bedroom door open, then close. Try though she might, she couldn't make out a sound. That year in the Cretaceous period had trained them well.

After a few minutes, she shrugged, and got up from her seat. She turned on a bedside lamp and checked her closet. There, she spotted the perfect dress. Soft , floaty but not too floaty, not the type of dress that would catch on her chair or on any of the buttons or levers on her control station. She set it out to wear the following day. And, satisfied, she climbed into bed, turned off her light, and went to sleep.


End file.
